CONNECTED TO THE WORLD: THE NEW STETSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW LIBRARY

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1 CONNECTED TO THE WORLD: THE NEW STETSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW LIBRARY J. Lamar Woodard * Although we celebrate this new library, the library has been an integral part of the Stetson University College of Law (the College) from its formation. 1 The Department of Law Bulletin states: Through the generosity of the bar of Florida, the Department was enabled to begin its career with a good working library, including the reports of the Florida Supreme Court,... the American Decisions, the American Reports, and the American State Reports, the Digests and Statutes of the State and the United States, the Reprint of the English Reports (so far as issued), and many of the leading text-books and books of reference. Important additions will be made to the library during the coming year. 2 The Department of Law Bulletin noted that one feature of the New Science Hall was a room for the Library. 3 Science Hall, renamed Flagler Hall after its benefactor, housed the College and its library from 1902 until the College closed for World War II in When classes resumed in 1946, there was no space for the College in Flagler Hall and it was moved three miles from the Stetson University campus in Deland, Florida, to the nearby Naval Air * Professor of Law, Librarian, and Director of Information Services, Stetson University College of Law. Professor Woodard has served as the Librarian at the Stetson University College of Law since For a more complete history of the Stetson University College of Law, see GILBERT L. LYCAN, STETSON UNIVERSITY: THE FIRST 100 YEARS (1983); W. Gary Vause, Foundations for Excellence The History of Stetson University College of Law, 16 STET- SON L. REV. 295, (1987). 2. JOHN B. STETSON UNIVERSITY, 1901 DEP'T OF LAW: ANNUAL ANNOUNCEMENT 19 (1901). 3. JOHN B. STETSON UNIVERSITY, 1902 DEP'T OF LAW: ANNUAL ANNOUNCEMENT 12 (1902). 4. See Vause, supra note 1, at 305.

2 242 Stetson Law Review [Vol. XXVIII Station (NAS). 5 The library was housed in the abandoned NAS administration building. 6 In 1954, the College moved from the NAS to its present location in St. Petersburg, Florida, where, for three years, the library was housed in converted barracks. 7 Witnesses to the move from DeLand to St. Petersburg stated that the library consisted of about 16,000 volumes that were packed into a single semi-trailer. 8 The College, in 1957, moved the library into a splendid new building the Charles A. Dana Library. 9 For the first time since the inception of the College, the library was adequately housed. The Dana Building's light-fixtures and high ceilings purveyed a sense of grandeur and dignity. However, the legal collection remained limited the library contained only 23,684 volumes. 10 Thus, the College appealed to its alumni and the legal community. This appeal produced thousands of donated volumes for the library. The collection continued expanding in scope and size. Dean Richard Dillon, who had been the librarian for a short time after being hired by Dean Sebring in 1957, provided the necessary financial assistance for the expansion. 11 Whenever Dean Dillon received extra funds, he would summon and instruct the librarian to use the money to improve the library collection. By 1971, the library contained a sizeable collection of bound volumes, a few non-book materials on microfilm reels from the Department of State Bulletin, and some seventy-eight rpm recordings of a trial lawyer's advice on how to be a better advocate. Once again, with the growth of the collection and the increase in the number of students, which began in 1970, the library needed more space. In response to this need, an addition was built in , which increased the usable floor space to 33,000 square feet. 5. See id. at See id. at 317 (noting that those who remember the College's operations at this time described it as a school with understaffed and underpaid faculty, working with an inadequate library collection, in jerry-built physical facilities ). 7. See id. at See id. at See id. at 330 (indicating that Governor LeRoy Collins dedicated the Charles A. Dana Library). 10. See Vause, supra note 1, at See id. at 333 (explaining that although Richard Dillon had been hired as the librarian, he became Dean Richard Dillon in 1968 after the unexpected death of Dean Sebring).

3 1998] Connected to the World 243 Today, the collection spans approximately 230,000 physical volumes and 120,000 volume equivalents on microfilm and microfiche. The current library also holds a large government documents collection, a collection of films and videos about the law, and a current fiction collection. Additionally, the on-line research services have, in some ways, removed the walls of the library. LEXIS and WESTLAW subscriptions, now available to all registered students and faculty twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, immeasurably enrich research capabilities. Likewise, the local area networks and Internet access expand the research capabilities of library users by providing electronic access to resources never before available at the College. Access to interlibrary loans through the On-Line Computer Library Center (OCLC) network also enables the library staff to obtain research materials for faculty and students with ease and speed undreamed of in The current collection is completely cataloged and classified. The library catalog has evolved from a traditional card catalog to a modern on-line, interactive catalog. Our OCLC membership has enabled us to create electronic records for, and to obtain bibliographic control of, all library resources. Consistent with this system, every volume in the collection has a Library of Congress classification number reserving its position relative to every other volume in the collection. Traditionally, law libraries have not been completely classified. Instead, library collections have been arranged according to the form of publication Statutes, Reports, Periodicals, Looseleaf Services, Shepard's, and Treatises. To the extent possible, the College library is classified by subject rather than by form. 12 Thus, looseleaf services and periodicals on a particular subject have been classed with all types of materials on that subject. An understanding of the history of the College law library is important to properly appreciate the significance of our magnificent new building. As the College approached the new millennium, the splendid Charles A. Dana Building of 1957, built for a student body of 179 in an era when law faculty and students did little research and far less writing, no longer provided adequate research capabilities for a student body in excess of 600 students. Moreover, on-line 12. See id. at 330 n.120.

4 244 Stetson Law Review [Vol. XXVIII research systems, such as LEXIS and WESTLAW, and the advent of personal computer networking made the inadequacies of the old building painfully obvious, even to the casual observer. In 1981, the first planning meeting was held. At that meeting, Dean Bruce Jacob and I, as the Librarian, discussed the need for an addition to the Dana Building. The College then retained Professor Betty Taylor of the University of Florida to report on the library needs. Professor Taylor's report produced a decade of controversy among the faculty regarding the need for a new library. Dean Jacob hired architect Charles Canerday in 1990 to prepare preliminary plans, and retained Professor George Grossman, an experienced law library building consultant, to advise the Dean and Librarian. The first plan proposed another addition to the 1972 Dana Building addition. The faculty eventually abandoned that plan and began drafting preliminary sketches of a new free-standing structure, which would require demolishing several existing buildings. After Dean Lizabeth Moody arrived at the College in 1994, the faculty agreed that the new library should be built on the east side of the campus on an existing parking lot. The new 59,100 square foot building pays homage to the Mediterranean Revival architecture of the original campus building the Rolyat Hotel. 13 However, the new building brings innovation and technology into a structure that will serve the College well into the twenty-first century. The new library is equipped with 45,200 square feet of usable floor space designed to carry 300 pounds per square foot live load. This design feature allows the implementation of compact shelving, which quadruples the shelving capacity, as needed throughout the building. Nevertheless, in the initial installation, compact shelving is only utilized in the library's North Wing on the second floor. The new library is also equipped with 792 category-five network outlets; each network outlet is interfaced with a computer network housed in a central telecommunications room. Electrical outlets and network connections are also provided in each of the 134 carrels, the 19 four-person study rooms, the 8 six-person conference rooms, and the 2 eight-person conference rooms. Almost all of the 188 seats positioned throughout the library at tables have 13. See id. at 320 (describing the Rolyat Hotel as a medieval Spanish Village... modeled after the Spanish Great Court, or Plaza Mayor, which represents the marketplace or outdoor gathering place in a typical Spanish community ).

5 1998] Connected to the World 245 adjacent power and network outlet access. Even the available lounge seating is provided with computer network connections. Also, each staff work area has immediate access to multiple network connections. Two fully equipped computer classrooms, seating sixteen students each, are available for computer-based instruction or research. Describing the technical capabilities of the new College law library cannot adequately convey the sheer beauty of its design and construction. The architect, interior designers, and construction crews exhibited great pride in their work. Their attention to detail is evident throughout the facility. After the new library opened, someone commented, I expected the building to be functional, but I did not expect it to be so beautiful. That statement reflects the sentiments of those of us who are fortunate enough to live and work in the building. This new library is to be treasured as we approach the Stetson University College of Law centennial anniversary in October 2000, and will serve as a solid foundation as the College launches into its second century of service to the legal profession.